The problem with reviewing a play dealing with a controversial subject is you need to keep your opinions of the issue to yourself and write your article on the merits of the piece of drama itself. Anyone who regularly reads my stuff will know that I usually insert some personal experiences so this will be a challenge.
The play begins with Molly, played by Ingrid Bolton-Gabrielsen, the cleaner at St Mary’s church, turning up for work on a Monday morning to discover that Alland, an Iranian asylum seeker, has been sleeping there overnight. She has locked the door behind her as she uses her shift at the church as me-time so doesn’t want to be disturbed. In a fit of panic she takes out her mobile phone to call the police. Alland, played by Aein Nasseri, assaults her whilst trying to wrest the phone from her so she fends him off with her broom. His back story unfolds as he explains the situation, thus winning her over to his side.
Molly fending off Alland after his attack. Ingrid Bolton-Gabrielsen and Aein Nasseri with members of CAPA College, Wakefield.
Alland has arrived in the UK illegally after finding his situation in Iran untenable. He is a trainee journalist and has published articles and videos criticising the government regarding their treatment of women who refuse to were the hijab. Some of his colleagues, along with the protesting women, have either been killed or ‘disappeared’. He has applied for asylum but his case was rejected as it was not thought that his return to his home country would pose no threat to his safety. His appeal has also been denied. The dilemma is that he has a sister and mother at home who have raised the money for his journey so that he can send for them when granted residence as they could not afford for all three to come.
Molly, who has problems of her own, having left the house where she lives with her father, being unable to pay her share of the rent to him. She hits on the idea of them getting married which will prevent Alland from being deported. He rejects this as he wants to make his case legitimately and not resort to subterfuge. He also holds the institution of marriage in too high esteem to abuse it for reasons other than love.
Enter Fiona, the vicar, played by Emily Chattle, whose first instinct is also to summon the police to turn in Alland. As with Molly, her attitude softens and she comes round to the conclusion that she should do what she can to help him with his plight. She allows him to stay in the church as a place of sanctuary and use the vicarage to shower and take meals.
Molly and her police officer friend Uzma, played by Ravneet Sehra
Meanwhile, Molly has been in touch with her friend, Uzma, Ravneet Sehra, a police officer, to see if she has any ideas. This obviously puts her in an impossible predicament in that she is paid to uphold the law rather than help someone who is breaking it.
The final character, played by Richard Kay, is Peter, the archdeacon. He, like the rest, initially states that the church cannot be party to an illegal act, nor treated as a hostel. In his case, however, he does not mellow but sticks to his guns.
Peripheral characters are the congregation and church choir, played by members of Wakefield’s CAPA College, who also act as masked right-wing extremists who come into the church chanting racist slogans and beat up Alland.
At this juncture I must point out that this production is a musical, with the book, music and lyrics by Sarah Woods and Boff Whalley, directed by Cheryl Martin. I mention this because, especially in the first half, the format seemed to trivialise the situation so far as to turn it into a parody, something echoed in the spoken dialogue. By the interval we had the baddies and the goodies, the former being the authority figures such as the Home Office, the police, the archdeacon and the right-wing yobs, the latter were those who had sided with Alland.
I purchased my ice cream wondering whether I had wasted an hour of my life, and would that turn into two by the time the piece was over. A tub of vanilla and honeycomb took my mind to a better place.
The second act moved into a darker phase with each side becoming more entrenched in their positions putting a strain on previously amicable relationships. Statistics were quoted and theories bunked and debunked. It got to a point where I wondered what the object of the exercise was. We still had the plight of the asylum seeker but the role of the church, media, state and community were all put under scrutiny. I concluded that, as in my opening paragraph where I emphasised my duty to separate my own feelings from my ‘work’, those toward the characters should be treated likewise.
Uzma, the police officer, who was of South Asian lineage, even though third generation English, was implored by her friend Molly to ignore her duty and turn a blind eye to Alland’s illegal status. Although she had been subjected to racial abuse herself, she recognised her duty to arrest miscreants rather than play the roles of police, CPS, judge, jury and executioner. The government makes the laws and it was her lot to bring transgressors to the next stage of the process by arresting them, no matter how much she empathised. Bearing in mind the actions of the Iranian police towards Alland’s colleagues and the women of the country, this seemed like a powerful argument for democracy, as we can change the law by changing the government, a luxury denied many citizens of the world where the police do perform the full gamut of legal procedures at the behest of rulers.
Emily Chattle as Fiona, the Vicar of St Mary’s
Was it a condemnation of the church and religion in general? Iran is ruled by clerics who strictly impose the teaching of their credo on the population, whereas the British churches, of whatever denomination, are removed from the political system, only having formal influence via the few Lords Spiritual in the large Upper Chamber of Parliament. Using an illustration provided by the Rev Fiona, this could be just as well, as she cited a case in the Netherlands where an asylum seeker had sought sanctuary in a church and the vicar, or whomever, had found out that it was illegal to interrupt a church service, even to enforce an arrest warrant, so they started one which lasted for 96 days, resulting in a review of the case and a decision to give the failed applicant and those similarly judged, leave to stay. She, therefore, decided to try something similar until Archdeacon Peter pointed out that he had done some research into the case and noted that, after the incident, the relevant passage in Dutch law was expunged, as was the main legislation on which it was based, meaning that several further loopholes were closed, thus debarring many other asylum seekers from gaining residence in Holland. Does any religion tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Was it querying the way in which we treat strangers, a question answered in one of the songs which came down with a resounding ‘Yes’ and urged us to welcome them as we are all strangers in one way or another. What happens when a stranger abuses our good nature and commits a heinous crime against us?
Alland, played by Aein Nasseri
Is taking the law into one’s own hands to help someone with whom you sympathise but is nevertheless acting illegally, in Alland’s case, compounded by his wilfully skipping his regular scheduled Wednesday appointment at the police station, more acceptable than to do so against someone you see as being a threat to your way of life?
Finally, was it examining the way in which we are all suckers for a sob story? I don’t want to trivialise the issues raised, but the emotional element of the show was far more powerful than the factual one. Whilst questioning the roles of the various authority figures, we were asked to take Alland’s story at face value, even though his circumstances had been examined in detail twice by the Home Office. He said that he filled in the form himself and told the truth, but now realised that he should have asked for help when doing it. Who knows?
I came away with the feeling that it is this last point which overrides the rest. The final song, Stand Up, was the clincher. The words implored people to stand up to what they see as being a threat to freedom. It was sung with such passion that a couple of members of the audience took it literally and rose to their feet, the remaining people in the auditorium following suit to applaud at the close. All except for one grumpy old geezer who, after being bombarded by Halloween and Black Friday, refuses to comply with any more American imported traditions -until the bonus NFL games on Thanksgiving Day.
The acting and singing was brilliant, with the seeming flippancy of the first half becoming very intense in the second, so much so that Ingrid Bolton-Gabrielsen was reduced to tears during her solo. Both she and Richard Kay, took turns at playing keyboard whilst the other was on centre stage proving themselves highly skilled in their musicianship too. The choir had a range of voices from bass/baritone to soprano which added depth and colour to the songs.
CAPA College Choir
The set was, of necessity, very minimal, as the play has toured small community venues as well as theatres. It did its job superbly, comprising arced seats which could be split up or combined to form a semi-circle, and a stained glass mobile, suspended from a structure to give the ecclesiastical vibe.
The following point I found to be a real eye-opener insofar as the state of the nation is concerned, and here I will inject a comment of my own, as I was so shocked by one throw-away line, especially with Remembrance Day being so close.
Molly, whilst defending Alland and his actions, said that it was understandable that he ran away as he was in mortal danger, ‘Wouldn’t anyone?’ The answer to this is ‘I hope not!’ Where would we be had it not been for people who refused to run away, but stay and fight for what they believe in? Whether it is those like my father and grandfathers who served in World Wars in order to make it possible to present a play like this, one which would never have seen the light of day had they not, Rosa Parks who put her life in peril simply by refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, the guy in Tiananmen Square who stood in front of a column of tanks armed only with a carrier bag, not to mention any number of brave souls who stood their ground on the European mainland, and other parts of the world when their countries were under occupation. We have always been a nation able to welcome those we deem to be in mortal danger because we didn’t run away, no city more so than Leeds, which is why I am so proud to be a Loiner, and writing this paragraph with tears in my eyes.
No matter how you present both sides of a situation in a play, it is still a play, and, to quote Marshall McLuhan, ‘The medium is the message.’ Telling a story by making it personal is far more powerful than quoting statistics, even when it is about a composite figure. The prime example is Cathy Come Home, which drew attention to the plight of the homeless in the Sixties. Obviously Mr Bates v The Post Office had the same effect but was rather different in that it dealt with the stories of real people rather than fictitious ones.
In conclusion, Red Ladder have done it again, and staged a play which does what art is supposed to do, and left the audience with more questions than answers.
Sadly the play’s run at Leeds Playhouse has ended but you can catch it tonight and tomorrow (8th and 9th November) at The Edge, Manchester. Please go to https://www.edgetheatre.co.uk/whats-on-theatre/ for more information and booking.
For details of what is on at Leeds Playhouse it is https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/
Finally, to find out more about Red Ladder, please see https://www.redladder.co.uk/
All images by Robling Photography
Tyke It To The Limit 